A LEICESTER man is due to attempt a new record in Reading from today to mark Catch The Bus Month.
Adham Fisher, a commuting enthusiast, is set to try traversing Reading’s urban bus network in the quickest possible time–having to get on every different route and ride through every stop on each route.
There will be certain caveats, however, such as where some routes have slight deviations on certain journeys: these will be exempt as the record will be for the core route on each service.
Adham was visiting family in the area and noticed that there was a set of serviced apartments bearing his family name.
He contacted House of Fisher on a whim and soon the idea gathered pace to look at setting a record in Reading.
Adham has been a fan of ‘extreme’ commuting since 2004, since which he has garnered the Guiness World Record for the fastest time to travel to every London Underground station, and has also travelled on every Greater London bus route within 16 days.
Extreme commuting involves trying to use all public transport in particular areas such as when Adham rode all the L-Trains in Chicago in 9 hours, 36 minutes, 33 seconds.
The record attempt will take place over around three days, kicking off today (Friday, September 26) until around Monday, September 29, with Adham expecting it to take between 48-72 hours in total.
As there is no official record, once completed, Adham hopes others will attempt it and help shine a spotlight on his hobby.
The attempt is to coincide with Bus Users UK Catch the Bus Month that encourages people to ditch their cars and try out the bus to help improve air quality, congestion and to show non-users how easy and effective catching the bus is.
Reading Buses and REDA (Reading’s Economic and Destination Agency) became involved to help support and sponsor the attempt.
Mr Fisher said: “This time it’s all in the name–it will be Fisher and Fisher–it’s only the first time I have been able to say that.
“I know I will be discovering some marvellous things about Reading and Berkshire during this pursuit.”